Wolfgang Reinhardt
Wolfgang Reinhardt (b. November 16th, 2641 - d. March 29th, 2729) was the 10th Governor-General of Greater Hulstria and 5th Chairman of the Fascist Authority Party; Reinhardt was the 8th Governor-General of Greater Hulstria, serving from 2699 to 2702. Prior to becoming the Chairman of the FAP and to his election as the Hulstrian Governor General, he was the former Fascist Authority Party Chief Party Officer for the Crownland of Mitrania and also he was in charge of the Party Legal Council responsible for party judicial affairs and co-chair of a national political action committee known as the "FAP-PAC", a pro-Fascist Authority Party conservative organization. During his second tenure as Governor-General in 2711, Greater Hulstria saw its largest economic expansion in over 100 years and saw the largest population increase in Greater Hulstria in over a century as well, termed the Reinhardt babyboom by historians. The peaceful reign of Heinrich I of Hulstria in his last years were also credited to help advance those factors. In 2721 Wolfgang Reinhardt was awarded the Peace Prize by the "VIP Decades Award Committee" for his efforts in ending and mediating the New Englian Crisis as well co-drafting the Treaty of New Englia; Reinhardt became the second Hulstrian to be awarded the honor, Heinrich I was the first for his efforts to end the terrorist New World Order group. The Treaty of New Englia was the agreement that officialy ended the New Englian Crisis in 2722, and established the Quadruple Alliance. After former party chairman Spenzer Roderick II fell to sickness and resigned, Wolfgang Reinhardt was pushed into national spotlight and the Kien political arena. He was appointed by Spenzer Roderick II and was officialy sworn in as the new Fascist Authority Party chairman in 2687 a week after Roderick's resignation. In 2699 Reinhardt was elected Governor-General of Greater Hulstria getting over 80 million votes. Wolfgang was not however re-elected in 2702; several factors included the loss of a major contributer to the FAP, the Hulstrian Labor Party, that along with former chairman Spenzer Roderick Jr created the "Central Deal" which was a successful blitz of reforms aiming at strengthing the Greater Hulstrian central government in the late 2600s. In 2711, thanks to the endorsement of the Imperial Hulstrian Party and the recent string of legislative victories in the Imperial Diet, Wolfgang Reinhardt was elected Governor-General again beating out Willem van Rensberg by a million votes in a very close election. In 2714 he was re-elected to a second-term, then in 2717 to a third-term, and finally in 2720 for a fourth and final term. In 2722, Reinhardt announced his retirement as the chairman of the Fascist Authority Party at the age of 81 and did not run for re-election for Governor-General in 2723; he remained in Kien and maintained a home in the countryside until his death in 2729 at the age of 88. Early Life Wolfgang Reinhardt was born on November 16th, 2641, to Alois and Tabitha Reinhardt. Wolfgang grew up in Kien, the capital of Greater Hulstria where he attended basic public school until he reached high school where he enrolled in a private educational institution and there is where he eventually graduated. Reinhardt would then head to college at Ferdinand University at Kien where he would take up the studies of constitutional law and finance; the future Governor-General then entered the Hulstrian School of Law where interestingly Spenzer Roderick Jr and Franklin Howard Roderick graduated a decade before he entered. When he finished with his school career, he married fellow classmate from the School of Law, Cathy Gerhold, before serving a term in the Armed Forces, mandatory by law. In the army he would rise to the rank of Lieutenant. Reinhardt soon got involved in politics after graduating from Law School and finishing his time in the army; he became a legal assistant for former Fascist Authority Party Internal Affairs Minister Leon Newbury and became the President of the Fascist Authority Party Legal Council a few years after. However before being appointed to chair that team, on weekends he worked as a waitor at "The Imperial Yacht Club" for extra earnings, and to support his new child. .]] Proving himself as a viable and efficient party member, people like the party Finance Minister Carmen Whitfield became very interested in Wolfgang Reinhardt, and vetted him to become the FAP Head Officer of Mitrania to look over all domestic issues relating to the Fascist Authority Party in that Crownland and preside over rallies or other activities. Despite him being a native of the Hulstria, he was still chosen to head that positin. There he would gain his vast political experience and tone his skills as a clear communicator, becoming known throughout the Crownland as a sort of celebrity for his lavish political fundraisers and parties he held, making a name for himself. Reinhardt was then tapped at the same time to the co-chair the political action committee known as "FAP-PAC", and worked on gaining support from citizens on the then royalist cabinet coalition, the "Hulstrian League" for the party. Weeks before the news broke of then Fascist Authority Party chairman Spenzer Roderick Jr falling to illness and having to be rushed to the emergency room, the talk within the party was about filling the soon to be vacant party Internal Affairs Ministry by the retiring Newbury. Leon Newbury was set to resign and many were looking towards either Julian Ackerman or Wolfgang Reinhardt to take over the office due to the legal experience held by the candidates; both men had worked in the Ministry prior under Newbury and both served on the party Legal Council. The debate would end abruptly when news broke out about Spenzer Roderick Jr surcombing to sickness; the chairman's state plunged into the party into fear about current political operations. Franklin Howard Roderick, the chairman's younger brother and then Vice-Chairman of the Fascist Authority Party, would eventually assume temporary control of the Fascist Authority Party. He was known for his activity but despite this the party for over was not as active in legislative affairs and no major pieces of law were passed in the Imperial Diet. Other parties in Greater Hulstria expressed similar activity. Time to time however Spenzer Roderick Jr did reasure citizens and party members about his state of conditions on numerous occasions. Roderick Jr did interviews and released statements from his hospital bed to keep worries or rumors about his condition under the radar of national media. Still though rumors persisted about his resignation landed on the front page of many newspapers sparking the Fascist Authority Party cabinet and others to speculate about who would actaully be up to the task of fitting into the shoes of running an entire political party. Fingers began pointing towards then Vice-Chairman Franklin Howard Roderick, longtime member and candidate for Finance Carmen Whitfield, and Wolfang Reinhardt as serious candidates if a resignation would ever happen. Whitfield soon took himself out of contention early citing "personal reasons" and wanted instead to continue his work in finance, leaving only Reinhardt and Franklin in real contention. Wolfang Reinhardt had the edge over Franklin Howard Roderick, even though the latter was the brother of the chairman and was the Vice-Chairman, Franklin Howard only got into national politics in 2666 after ousting Conrad Falk in a coup with Roderick Jr while Reinhardt was in it his entire life, plus his work in Hulstria/Mitrania and working in the FAP Legal Council overshadowed Franklin Howard's other accomplishments. Additionally, many members thought that Franklin did not have the same spotlight as his brother or his dad, that he was not capable of leading the party into the new century. In January 2687, it was confirmed Spenzer Roderick II would as Chairman of the Fascist Authority Party resign in March, and would appoint a successor when the party as a whole was behind one candidate. Franklin Howard and Wolfgang Reinhardt, the two man contenders, shortly after meet in a secret meeting in Kien about who would become appointed. It was confirmed when the meeting was done that the two men reached a conclusion; it would be Reinhardt, not Howard, who would be the one take over. Also, Franklin Howard would resign from his post as Vice-Chairman as soon as Reinhardt was confirmed clearing a way for a true, clean start from the next chairman. Chairman of the Fascist Authority Party in 2687]] Spenzer Roderick Jr did eventually in 2687 resign from his post as the chairman of the Fascist Authority Party and appointed Wolfgang Reinhardt as his successer to the position; days later Reinhardt was officialy sworn in as chairman after a overwhemling approval vote from the National Congress. Upon being sworn in as the new chairman, Reinhardt was faced with several problems within his party; an aging cabinet, Greater Hulstria's turn to devolution, and instablity due to Roderick Jr's illness. To counter these situtations, Wolfgang Reinhardt made a serious attempt to appoint fresh, new members to the FAP cabinet starting with Julian Ackerman, who he had been in contention with before, to the office they were both seeking years eariler. The resignations of ranking party members such as Carmen Whitfield and Friedemann Dodson posed a challenge to Reinhardt but he faced them with appointing Alexander Koubek and Frederick Lambert to the jobs; they've since proved to be effective and Lambert followed in Dodson's steps by becoming Infrastructure & Transport Minister shortly after being appointed making him the 3rd FAP member to hold that office. As chairman, he made an effort to reach out towards the growing devolutionist base in Greater Hulstria, and set out to change a lot of the Fascist Authority Party's policies towards the economy and powers of the national government. Until Reinhardt, every FAP chairman has expressed great stress on the empowerment of the central government and making sure a central authority had a say in decisions; it proved to be an excellent agenda during the Ewald, Roderick, (to an extent) Falk, and Roderick Jr eras but in the late 2600s, public opinion was shifting towards local government, and federalist parties putting the Fascist Authority in a delicate situation. The move towards trying to set a new light towards the party and make it a federalist friendly party was greeted with optimism and open arms from party officials including citizens, it even helped spike Imperial Diet seats. Although other political parties were not so open; parties that were open to devolution suddenly began voting against devolutionist measures prposed by the Fascist Authority Party, suggesting partisanship. Not only did Reinhardt take a serious step to welcome federalist ideas but he helped revive the "mixed economic" policies of the FAP or known as "FAP Economics" that prospered during the reign of [[Spenzer Roderick]. Massive steps to create a more diverse economy including free and planned laws were during under his tenure with a good amount being passed. In 2699, Reinhardt was elected as the 8th Governor-General of Greater Hulstria Many believe Wolfgang Reinhardt's victory in the 2699 Governor-General elections was thanks to his attempts at creating new agendas. Governor General (2699–2702) Wolfgang Reinhardt was elected Governor-General of Greater Hulstria, the elected representative of the Emperor of Hulstria Heinrich I, in the 2699 general elections. Wolfgang Reinhardt defeated incumbent Erwin Zilberschlag by in a close contest; it came down to Reinhardt's 80.7 million against Zilberschlag's 80.2 million. Reinhardt received the endorsements of the Hulstrian Labor Party and the Imperial Hulstrian Party in the elections. The victory would provide the second time a Fascist Authority Party chairman would win the office of Governor-General; Spenzer Roderick in 2659 was elected Governor-General with over 64 million votes and received 4 million more votes than Nicolaas van der Burgh of the Nationalist Party. The win escalated the party's morale to new heights and hope for continued successes were high; many put their faith into Reinhardt to bring out true reform and lead the charge for central government empowerment. Many within were also hopeful that he would seek to change many economic laws established by the Hulstrian federalist faction in the Imperial Diet to create a more balanced, mixed economy other than a radical devolutionist outlook towards the economic system they felt were imposed. Wolfgang Reinhardt did make consistant efforts to bring about suchs reform but the seat numbers in the Imperial Diet were not behind him and some change in policy did occur though not a scale Reinhardt and others hoped for. Wolfgang Reinhardt's term would also be marked by a conflict with the Christian Liberal Party, whose leader he defeated in the 2699 general elections, over new cabinet coalition formations. Wolfgang Reinhardt was pushing for greater unfication in the cabinet by bringing in more political parties into the mix; the Governor-General sought to bring in the Hulstrian Homeland, Imperial Hulstrian, and Hulstrian Labor parties to promote unity and greater efficiency in government by having more cooperation. The CLP did not go along with the original unified cabinet proposed by Reinhardt because of Ministry positioning, as in the party felt they should have more higher positions in government at the time. Reinhardt on the other hand held their senior government positions should be given to veteran political parties such as the KHP. It took a nearly three years of delibration and debate for the cabinet coalition, which was called the "Imperial Pact", to be formed. Wolfgang Reinhardt and the leaders of the Imperial Hulstrian Party worked together to reach a compromise with the other parties towards the end of the ordeal which proved to be successful. Wolfgang Reinhardt would also become very active in his first term and became more involved legislative affairs of the Imperial Diet, a duty usually reserved to the Staatsminister; his activity was seen as a very big difference from Zilberschlag's form of advisory governing. However despite reaching the cabinet compromise and bringing together unity among the parties in a government, in 2702 Wolfgang Reinhardt was not re-elected to a second-term as Governor General; he was beat by Willem van Rensberg of the Hulstrian Nationalist Party. Willem was a member of the Rensburg political dynasty which had it's roots back to the apartheid period. Despite the loss the Fascist Authority Party saw huge gains in the Imperial Diet and almost captured a majority. Rensberg also got the endorsement of the Christian Liberals, a factor in the defeat. Reinhardt would not enter the office of Governor-General for another 9 years. Governor-General (2711-2723) Personal Life & Political Beliefs .]] Wolfgang Reinhardt was married to Cathy Gerhold, one of his fellow classmates during his time in law school. They had two children; Nikolai and Caroline Reinhardt. He was the grandfather of Volkad Reinhardt. Wolfgang Reinhardt was considered a hardline royalist early on in his political career; in a national newspaper article he once advocated that Head of State for Greater Hulstria should be fully occupied by the Emperor of Hulstria, discontinuing the office of Governor-General, to uphold the Monarch's influence, and return to traditional standards. When asked a question about if he would continue that policy if he was elected Governor-General, Reinhardt said he wouldn't pursue it vigorously, and would only pursue as such if support was around; when he eventually became Governor-General, he did not advocated such a measure in the legislature mainly due to the events of the New Englian Crisis and the time consumed by it. Reinhardt's interest in the idea provided the foundations for the Fascist Authority Party decades later to found the Hulstrian Monarchist Society that endorsed the idea of a fully hereditary Head of State. A life long politician, Reinhardt began his political life under the reign of Heinrich I of Hulstria, and Reinhardt would remain a strong supporter of Heinrich I for his entire career. Reinhardt's generation had known no other monarch and that fact shaped many of Reinhardt's political views. He believed in the preservation of the monarchy and its protection from radicalism; Wolfgang Reinhardt in the 2710s would come to join together with Edmund von Greifstein in forming the "Imperial Conservative" government with the KHP, a coalition comprised of many members of the Hulstrian old guard, and elder politicians from the Heinrich era that would continue to rule until the 2740s. The Imperial Conservative faction itself would continue even after many of the politicians from the Heinrich I era retired or passed. Reinhardt would also coin the term "International Monarchism", a term that would be used by many Hulstrians to describe their Kaiser's status on the world stage, and gave birth to the term "Universal Emperor" to label Heinrich I. The Imperial Conservative faction continues to exist today between the FAP and the KHP as a result of their cooperation formed here. Reinhardt was also credited as being a "closet federalist" and small government advocate; when he became the Fascist Authority Party leader, he personally introduced new localist and regional initatives to the Imperial Diet, a radical change to the strong central government policies of the Fascist Authority Party. Reinhardt however was still labeled as being mainly centralist and believer in a strong central government, noted by his infrastructure and economic legislation both as Chairman and Governor-General. Despite this, as chairman Reinhardt was able to bring in both idealogies introducing measures to give each side a respective share in policy making. Wolfgaing Reinhardt, like Spenzer Roderick, was a firm supporter of "mixed-economic policy" or having a nation with strong private and public sectors having a share in decisions. In 2704, he introduced a massive bill called "MEEA" or the Mixed-Economic Expansion Act to Greater Hulstria's legislature, even though it failed to pass, it cemented his stand on economic issues. Later on as Governor-General, he was able to enact several articles from MEEA. Category:The Fascist Authority Party Category:Hulstrian and Gao-Soton people